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THE 

DUCHE LETTER 

TO 

GENERAL WASHINGTON 



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Rev. JACOB DUCHE'S LETTER 

TO 

GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON, 



Philadelphia, Oct*: Sth, 1777. 

Sir, 

If this Letter should find you in council or in the field, be- 
fore you read another Sentence, I beg you to take the first 
opportunity of retiring — and weighing its important Contents. Vou 
are perfectly acquainted with the part I formerly took in the 
present unhappy Contest. — I was, indeed, among the first to bear 
my public Testimon}' against having any recourse to threats, or in- 
dulging a thought of an armed Opposition. The Current however 
was too strong for my feeble efforts to resist. I wished to follow 
my Countrymen as far only as virtue and the Righteousness of 
their Cause would permit me. I was however prevailed upon, 
among the rest of ni}' Clerical Brethren in this City, to gratify the 
pressing desires of m)' fellow-citizens — b)' preaching a Sermon to 
the 2d City Battalion. I was pressed to publish this Sermon and 
reluctantly consented. From a personal Attacliment of near 20 
years standing, and a high respect for your Character in private 
as well as publick life, I took the liberty of dedicating this Sermon 
to you. — I had your affectionate thanks for my performance in a 
Letter — [where] in was expressed, in the most delicate & obliging 
terms — your regard for me and your wishes for a Continuance of 
my friendship and approbation of your Conduct. 

Farther than this I intended not to proceed. My Sermon 
speaks for itself and wholl)' disclaims the Idea of Independency. 
My Sentiments were well known to my friends : — I commimicated 
them without reserve to many respectable Members of Congress 
who expressed their warm approbation of them. I persisted to 
the very last moment to use the prayers for my Sovereign — tho' 






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tliivatcncil wilh insult fiDni the violence of a |),ii I)-. I'piiiilhc 
declaration of independency I called iii)- X'estry — and solemn!)- 
put the Question to tiiem " Whetlier they tliou-^ht it best for the 
peace and welfare of the Congrcjjation to shut up the Churches — 
or to continue the Service without using the prayers for the Royal 
Family ? This was the sad alternative. I concluded to abide by 
tiieir decision as 1 could not have time to consult my spiritual 
Superiors in England. — They determined it most expedient — 
under such critical circumstances — to keep open the Churches, 
that the Congregation migiit not be dispersed — which we had 
great reason to apprehend. A very few days after the fatal de- 
claration of Independency I received a Letter from Mr. Hancock- 
sent by Express to Germantown — where my famih- [were] for the 
Summer season — acquainting me I was appointed Chaplain to th<; 
Congress, and desired my Attendance next Morning at 9 o'Clock. 
Sur[)rised and distressed as I was by an event I was not prei)ared 
to expect — Obliged to give an immediate Attendance, without the 
opportunit}- of consulting my Friends, I easily accepted the Ap- 
pointment. I could have but one Motive for taking this Step. I 
thought the Churches in danger, and hoped by this means to have 
been instrumental in preventing tho.se ills I had so much reason 
to apprehend. I can, however, with truth declare, thr.t I then 
looked upon Independency rather as an F^xpedient and hazardous, 
or indeed, thrown out — in Terrorem — in order to procure some 
favorable terms — than a Measure that was seriously persisted in 
at all Events. My sudden change of Conduct will clearly evince 
this to have been my Idea of the matter. Upon the Return of 
the Committee of Congress appointed to confer with Lord Howe, 
I soon discerned their wiiole Intentions. The different accounts 
which each n)ember gave of this Conference — the time they took 
to make up the matter for public view, and the amazing Dis- 
agreement between the News-Paper accounts and the Relation I my- 
self had from the Mouth of one of the Committee — convinced me 
— that there must have been some unfair and ungenerous Procedure. 
This determination, to treat on no other Strain than that of Inde- 
pendency (which put it out of his L'dship's power) to mention any 
Terms at all was a sufficient Proof to me, that Independency was 
the Idol they had long wish'd to set up, and that rather than sac- 
rifice this, they would deluge their Country with Blood. From 
this moment I determined upon my resignation, and in the be- 
ginning of October 1776 sent it in form to .Mr I lancock, after 



having officiated only two niontlis and three weeks ; and from that 
time, as far as nu' safety would permit, I have been opposed to 
all their Measures, — This circumstantial Account of my Conduct 
I think due to the Friendship you were so obliging as to express 
for me, and, I hope, will be sufficient to justif\' mj' seeming incon- 
sistencies in the part I have acted. And now. Dear Sir, Suffer me, 
in the language of Truth and real affection, to address myself to 
you ! All the world must be convinced you are engaged in the 
Service of your Country — from Motives perfectly disinterested. 
You risqued every thing that was dear to you — abandoned the 
Sweets of domestic life which your affluent fortune can give the 
uninterrupted enjoyment of — ]?ut had you, could \'ou have had 
the least Idea of matters being carried to such a dangerous ex- 
tremity — Your most intimate Friends shuddered at the thought 
of a separation from the Mother Countr)-, and I took it for granted 
that your Sentiments coincided with theirs ; what then can be the 
consequence of this rash and \-iolent measure, and degeneracy of 
representation ? Confusion of Councils — blunders without num- 
ber 1 The most respectable characters have withdrawn themselves 
and are succeeded by a great Majority of illiberal and violent men. 
Take an impartial view of the present Congress — and what can 
you expect from them ? Your feelings must be greatly hurt by 
the representation of your natural Province. You have no longer 
a Randolph, a Bland, or a Braxton — Men whose names will ever 
be revered — whose demands never ran above the first groimd on 
which they set out, and whose trul>- glorious and virtuous senti- 
ments I have frequently heard with rapture from their own lips I 
O, m\' dear Sir ! What a sad Contrast of Characters now present ! 
Others whose friends can ne'er mingle with your own. Your 
Harrison alone remains, and he disgusted with the unworthy As- 
sociates. As to those of my own Province — some of them are so 
obscure that their very names were never in my ears before, and 
others have only been distingui.shed for the weakness of their 
Understandings, and the violence of their tempers. One alone I 
except from the general charge, — a man of virtue drawn reluc- 
tantly, and restrained, by some false ideas of honor, from retreating, 
after having gone too far. You cannot be at loss to discover 
whose name answers to this Character. 

From the N. luigland provinces can you find one, that as 
a Gentleman you could wish to associate with, unless the soft and 
milil Address of Mr. Hancock, can .ittonc for his want of every 



other qualification nccessar)- for the seat which lie fills. Hankrupts, 
Attorneys, anil Men of desperate fortunes, are his CoUegues. 
Marvlancl no longer sends a Tilghman and a protestant Carrol. 
Carolina has lost its Lynch, and the elder Middleton has retired. 
Are the dregs of Congress then still to influence a mind like yours? 
These are not the men you engaged to serve ; these are not the 
Men America has cho.sen to represent her. Most of them were 
chosen by a little low faction, and the few Gentlemen that are 
among them now — are well known to lie on the balance, and look- 
ing up to your hand alone to turn the beam : ' Fis you, Sir, and 
you onl)', that support the present Congress; — of this you must 
be fully sensible. Long before they left Philadelphia, their dignity 
and Consequence was gone; — what must it be now since their 
precipitate retreat ? I write with freedom, but without invective. 
— I know the.se things to be true, and I write to one whose own 
Observations must have convinced him it is so. After this \^iew 
of the Congress, turn to the Army : the whole world knows that 
its onl)' existence depends upon you ; that your death or Cap- 
tivity disperses it in a moment; and that there is not a Man on 
that side the Question in America capable of succeeding you. 
As to the Army itself, what have you to expect from them ? 
Have they not frequently abandoned you yourself in the hour of 
extremity ? Can you, have you the least Confidence in a set of 
undisciplined men and officers, many of them have been taken 
from the lowest of the people, without principle, without Courage ; 
— take away them who surround your person, how very few are 
there you can ask to sit at your Table ? As to your little navy, 
of that little, what is left ? Of the Delaware fleet part are taken, 
the rest must soon surrender; of those in the other provinces, 
some are taken, one or two at sea, and others lying unmanned 
and unrigged in your harbours ; and now where are your Re- 
sources? Oh! my dear Sir, how sadi)' have you been abused by 
a faction void of truth, and void of tenderness to you and your 
Country ? They have amused you with hopes of a declaration of 
war on the part of I'" ranee : Believe me, from the best Authority, 
it was a fiction from the first. Early in the year 1776 a French 
Gentleman was introduced to me, with whom I became intimately 
acquainted. His business to all appearance — was to speculate in 
the mercantile way; but I believe it w'ill be found, that in his 
Country he moved in a higher sphere. lit- .saw your Cause; he 
became acquainted with all your military preparations; he was 



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introduced to Congress, and engaged with them in a commercial 
Contract. In the course of our intimacy — he has frequently 
told me — that he hoped the Americans would never think of In- 
dependency ; he gave me his reasons : " Independency can never 
be supported unless France should declare War against England. 
I well know the state of her Finances — years to come will not put 
them in a Situation to enter upon a breach with England. At 
this moment there are two parties in the Court of Versailles ; one 
inlisted under the Duke de Choiseul, the other under Count 
Maurepas. Choiseul has no chance of succeeding, tho' he is vio- 
lent for war ; Maurepas must get the better, — he is for economy 
and peace." This was his information, \vhich I mentioned to 
several Members of Congress; they treated it as a Fable — depend- 
ing entirely on Doctor Franklin's intelligence. The truth of the 
matter is this, Doctor Franklin built upon the success of Choiseul ; 
upon his Arrival in France, he found him out of place, his Coun- 
cils reprobated, and his party dwindled into an insignificant fac- 
tion : This you may depend upon to be the true state of Affairs 
in France or the Court of Doctor Franklin. And further by vast 
numbers of Letters found on board prizes taken by the King s 
Ships, it appears, that all commerce with the Merchants, thro' 
whom all your supplies have been conveyed, will be at an end ; 
the letters being full of complaints of no remittances from Amer- 
ica, and many individuals having generally suffered. From your 
Friends in England you have nothing to expect, their numbers 
have diminished to a C\'pher; the spirit of the whole nation is in 
activity, a few sounding names among the Nobility, tho' perpet- 
ually rung in your ears, are without character, without influence. 
Disappointed ambition has made them desperate, and they only 
wish to make the deluded Americans instruments of revenge. All 
orders and ranks of men in Great Britain are now unanimous, and 
determined to risque their all with Content. Trade and Manu- 
factures are found to flourish, and new Channels are continually 
offering — that will perhaps more than supply the loss of the old. 
In America your harbours are blocked up, your cities fall one 
after another ; fortress after fortress, battle after battle is lost. A 
British Army after having passed unmolested thro' a vast Extent 
of Countr)', have possessed themselves of the Capital of America. 
How unequal the Contest ? How fruitless the e.xpcnce of 
blood ? L'nder so maii_\' ilisc<;iumging Circmnstanccs — can virtue, 
can hnnor, can the love of your Country — prompt you to proceed ? 



Ilunianit)' itself, ami sure luimanily is no stranj^cr to }'our breast, 
calls upon you to desist. Your army must perish for want of 
common necessaries, or thousands of innocent Families must 
perish to support them : Wherever they encamp, the country 
must be impoverished ; wherever thc\- march, the troops of 
liritain will pursue and must compleat the destruction which 
America herself has begun. I'erhaps it may be said — it is better 
to die than to be made Slaves : This indeed is a splendid Maxim 
in Theory, and perhaps in some instances may be found expcri- 
mentall)- true ; but when there is the least probability of an ac- 
commodation, surely wisdom and humanity call for some sacri- 
fices to be made, to prevent inevitable destruction. You well 
know there is but one invincible bar to such Accommodations, 
could this be removed, other obstacles might readily be removed. 
It is to you and you alone your bleeding Country looks 
and calls aloud for this sacrifice, your Arm alone has strength 
sufficient to remove this bar; — May heaven inspire you with this 
glorious resolution of exerting your strengtii at this Crisis, and 
immortalizing yourself as friend and guardian to \'our Country; 
your penetrating e}-c needs not more explicit language to discern 
my meaning; with that prudence and delicacy therefore, of which 
I know you possess'd, to represent to Congress, the indispensable 
necessity of rescinding the hasty and ill-advised declaration of 
Independency. Recommend, you have an undoubted right to rec- 
ommend, an immediate cessation of hostilities. Let the Contro- 
versy be taken up where that declaration left it, and where Lord 
Hovs-e certainly expected to find it left. Let men of clear and 
impartial Characters, in or out of Congress, liberal in their senti- 
ments heretofore, independent in their fortunes (and some such 
ma)- be found in America) be appointed to confer with his Majes- 
ty's Commissioners. Let them, if they please, prepare some well- 
digested constitutional plan, to lay before them at the commence- 
ment of the Negotiation ; when thej- have gone thus far, I am 
confident the usual happy consequences will ensue; unanimit)' will 
soon take place thro' the different provinces ; thou.sands who are 
now ardently wishing and praying for such a measure, will step 
forth and declare themselves the Zealous Advocates for Constitu- 
tional Liberty, and Millions will bless the hero that left the field 
of War, to decide this most important Contest with the weapons 
of wisdom and humanity. Oh ! Sir, let no false idea of worldly 
honor deter yc u fr( in engaging in so glorious a task; whatever 



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censures maybe thrown out b)' mean illiberal minds, \^c)ur charac- 
ter will rise in the estimation of the \artu(nis and noble, it will 
appear with lustre in the Annals of history, and form a glorious 
contrast to that of those — wlio have fought to obtain conquest, 
and gratify their own ambition by the destruction of their species 
and the ruin of their country. Be assured, Sir, that I write not 
this under the eye of any British Officer, or any person coiuiected 
with the British Army or Ministry. The sentiments I express 
are the real sentiments of my own heart, such as I have long held, 
and which I should have made known to you by Letter before, 
had [I] not fully expected an opportunity of a personal conference 
with you. When you passed thro' Philadelphia on your way to 
Wilmington, I was confined by a severe fit of the Gravel, to my 
chamber; I have since continued so much indisposed, & times 
ha\-e been so distressing, that I had neitlier spirit to write a letter, 
nor an opportunity to convey it when written, nor do I )'et know 
by wliat means I shall get these sheets to your hands; I would 
fain hope that I have said nothing by which your delicacy can be 
in the least hurt ; if I have, I assure you, it has been without the 
least intention, and therefore your Candor will lead )'ou to forgive 
me. I have spoke freely of Congress and the Arms', but what I 
liave said is partly from my own knowledge, and partK' from the 
information of some respectable members of the former, and some 
of the best Officers in the latter; I would not offend the meanest 
person upon earth ; what I say to you, I say in confidence to 
answer what I cannot but deem a most valuable purpose. I love 
my Country, I love you ; but to the love of truth — the love of 
peace and the love of God, I hope I should be enabled, if called 
upon to the trial, to sacrifice every other inferior love. If the ar- 
guments made use of in this Letter should have so mucli influ- 
ence, as to engage you in tlie glorious work, whicli I have warmly 
recommended, I shall ever deem my success the highest temporal 
favor that Providence could grant me. Your interposition and 
advice, I am confident, would meet with a favorable reception 
from the autliority under which you act ; if it should not, you 
have an infallible recourse still left — negotiate for your Country 
at the head of your Arm\-. After all it may appear presumption 
as an individual to address himself to )-ou on a subject of such 
magnitude, or to say wliat measures wouki best secure the interest 
& welfare of a whole Continent. The friendly and fa\-orable opin- 
ion \'Ou have always expressed for me emboldens me to under- 



take it ; and whicli lias {jrcatly added to tlic \vfi<5lit of tliis motive. 
1 lia\c been slronj:;ly impressed witli a sense of tliity ii]ion the 
Occasion, wliicli left my conscience uneasy and my lieart affiictcd 
— till I full}' discharged it. 1 am no Enthusiast — the cause is new 
and singular to me, but I could not enjoy one moment's peace 
till this Letter was written. With the most ardent prayers lor 
your spiritual, as well as temporal welfare — I am, 

Sir, 
Your most obedient and 
humble Friend and Servant 
JACOB DUCHE. 

His Excellency General Washington. 



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